The giant, long, haven't blogged in almost a week, after christmas post ...

Once again, Christmas was FANTASTIC! On the 23rd, however, I wasn't sure if I would survive. I still wasn't done shopping, Mark was still acting like scrooge, and the weather was not cooperating. All of that stress was left behind when, on Christmas morning, three little boys crept down the stairs to see if Santa had, in fact, visited our house. And he had! But before all of that happened, something truly magical happened on christmas eve ...

On the way home from GrammyDa's (that's short for Grammy and Da's House - Mark's Parents, also referred to as Sharon and Don!), Ian fell asleep, and when we got home, Keagan went straight to bed, so only Nate was awake. It was late, almost midnight, so I decided it would be easiest to lay down with Nate in my bed to help him fall asleep because he was SO excited for Christmas. So, as we were laying in be chit chatting about christmas and Santa's arrival, we heard a strang sort of 'thump" come from outside.

Nathan froze and whispered soooo quietly to me "mom, shhh. If he hears you, he might leave."

To which I replied, in a teeny tiny whisper, "what do you think that was?"

"it must be Santa because it is almost midnight. It's almost christmas."

then, another thump!

Again, nate freezes.

Then he turns to me and whispers ...

"mom, this is the most special christmas ever, beause I have never heard Santa's footsteps on the roof before."

I will never EVER tell him that the noise was not Santa, but it was Ellie (our 2 year old Beagle) tearing thru the trash on the deck right under my bedroom window!

But, oh, the magic of Christmas. This is the first year that I have actually witnessed this magic. I don't know if I just missed it all around me the last severl christmases since the kids were born because i was too busy, or too worried, or too stressed, or too tired, or just not ready for it. I sure felt it this year, though! This Christmas I decided to be in the moment, and it paid off. There was the Santa steps with Nathan, Ian's very special conversation with Mrs. Claus, and then there was Keagan.

On Christmas Eve, we let Nate and Ian open one present before their short rest before mass, and although Keagan was in his room, with the door shut, falling asleep, he heard them opening their gifts. When he woke from his nap, he immediately asked if he could open his present. Nate and Ian were already at GrammyDa's, so he was the only one home. I chose the smallest present for him to open. It was a small toy cellphone with Mickey Mouse on it that has flashing lights and beeps and plays music when you push the buttons. He already has one of these, but it is "dead of batteries" and the toy is cheaper than the hearing aid batteries it needs to work again! So, I handed the tiny present to him, and Mark and I sat and waited for him to open it. The first thing he said was "is dis fo me?"

"yes, it is."

"can I open it?"

"yes, go ahead"

he began to open the present so gently, tearing off the smallest bits of paper. He would not throw them on the floor, and was looking for aplace to put the paper. Mark streched his hand out to take the paper, and Keagan continued opening the present. When he had opened it enought to see the toy, he said, "Is this my new Mickey Mouse Phone?"

"I don't know, keep opening it."

So he finishes unwrapping the phone, he opens it and says ...

"Hi Santa. Thank you for my new phone. I love you. Merry Christmas."

He's 2. He's awesome. I cried.

Anyway, there were many, many other magical moments this Christmas. Santa usually brings the boys the toys and things that mommy and daddy either won't buy, or just don't allow. This year he brought Ian several Red Power Rangers. It was the only thing he asked for throughout the entire christmas season. He saw santa 3 times and every time, he just asked for a red power ranger. Since Power Rangers aren't allowed here because they promote fighting and wrestling, and we already have enough of that here. Ian could not believe it when he kept opening packages and there were more red power rangers! Oh, he also got roller blades, and pseudo cap guns (guns aren't allowed either for the same reason!) And playdoh.

Nate received Roller blades, Cap guns, and "tons of Pokemon Cards". We wanted to get him what he asked for, but were nervous that when he opened them, and realized that his brothers had received more cool toys, that he would be disappointed. Boy, were we wrong! He loves them. He spent an hour yesterday sorting them out and putting them in ziploc bags in their special categories. He hasn't stopped talkign about them, and how he can't wait to get to school and trade them with his friends.

Santa brought Keagan a kitchen ... much to Mark's chagrin. But, he loves it! This morning he wanted to heat his bottle up in HIS microwave. then he made some pizza and ice cream, and put some legos away in the dishwasher. He also got a ball, which was the only thing he asked Santa for. just a ball, nothing special, just a playground ball. And, all 3 of them played with it forever yesterday playing 4 square in the house!

At grammyda's, santa left more presents for the boys. Including, an electric razor scooter for nate, a real guitar for ian, and a special fire truck for keagan! the funniest part of this was that we tried to keep the boys on the loveseat so the christmas tree was in between them and their unwrapped presents from Santa for about 1 minute until everyone was ready. We kept telling them not to look, and Ian said, "I'm NOT looking! I didn't even see that guitar!"

Oh, one more magic story, then i am signing off!

At Ian's preschool they have a thing called Santa Shop. Right after thanksgiving the kids come home with a special form. Mom and dad fill out the form with the child to let the school know who the child needs to shop for, and how old they are, and their relation to the child. Then, the child goes to shop for their gifts, has them wrapped and brings them home that day in a big bag all ready to go under the tree. The trick is to get the kids to keep the secret of what the gifts are until christmas. When they shop, they are choosing inexpensive dollar store items for their loved ones, and it takes them a LONG time to choose their gifts. This year, Ian kept the secret of the gifts so well because he didn't want to break the "Christmas Promise", which is that you can lie during christmas time, only if it is to protect someone from finding out what their gifts will be!

Anyway ... on christmas morning, Ian very gently handed out all of his presents, adn we took turns opening them. Da received an ice scraper mitten for his car. Mark received a tape measure because he "likes to measure things." I got a cool pair of gloves with fuzzy cuffs. Aunt Joni got a snowglobe, etc. Ian had a story or a reason for every gift he chose. He did not select his gifts at random as it would seem to the casual observer. He had specific details of why he chose the gift. He gave Da the ice scraper because it was small and he could leave it in his glove box, and when he got out of a meeting, he wouldn't have to borrow one anymore. It was like this for all of us. I was amazed at the thoughtfullness of my 4 year old! Thank you, Totten Hall, for this wonderful gift!

After Christmas morning at our house, we headed over t ogrammyda's for the rest of the day. We ate, drank, and were very merry! We opened presents for a total of 10 hours! Then Mike and Elaine Shaffer joined us for Christmas Dinner, and we had a wonderful time.

Yesterday, with the adrenaline rush of christmas and 3 nights in a row of no hardly any sleep, I could barely get out of bed! So, I didn't! Until noon thirty! Mark and the boys had a great day playing with new toys and building legos! then it was back to grammyda's for late dinner and a, now famous, Ian melt down.

Oh, and the boys received their traditional personalized t-shirts from Nick and Joni. Nates read ... "Class of 2020" on the front and on the back it says "Seniors Rule". His previous shirt reads "Helloooooo Ladies".

Ians says "I am NOT Cute!" His previous shirts say, "Chicks Dig Scars", and "Lock Up Your Daughters".

Keagan's says "I'm a Boy", and his previous shirt says "Made in Hawaii".

We are still recovering from the big day, but it was wonderful.

Today, we are taking Aunt Kathy (Sutton) to see the Tale of Desperaux, because she says Uncle Denny won't take her to see it! It should be great, and the boys are very excited!

Mark and Keagan are in the garage working because it is almost 70 here today!

Merry Christmas! I know ours was!